试论隐性超期羁押的危害及其控制

超期羁押是当前刑事司法实践一大顽疾,不仅严重侵犯被羁押者的合法权益,给其亲属造成不必要的负担和痛苦,且妨碍了刑事诉讼活动的正常进行.超期羁押既有表面上即明显超出法定期限的显性超期,也有以形式上合法掩饰实质上不合法的隐性超期.针对司法实践中尚不为人们所重视的"隐性超期羁押"问题,从分析其表现、危害及成因入手,试着探求解决的对策,以期对从根本上预防和纠正此类现象有所裨益.     

Reconceptualising the Custody Threshold in England and Wales

The custody threshold provision in England and Wales was intended to operate as a limit on the use of custodial sentences, preserving what is the system’s most severe sanction for the most serious offences. However over the past few decades it has become apparent that the custody threshold is failing. Academics have discussed the reasons for this failure, which has seen the prison population double in space of a quarter of a century. This piece explores the custody threshold in the context of the use of custody in other Western European jurisdictions. It examines the courts’ response to the provision and various judicial attempts to amplify Parliament’s language. The authors then consider the academic critiques of the custody threshold provision, analysing the extent to which said criticism can be seen as a solution to the problem, before offering a new critique of their own. Finally, in a move towards more a more principled approach to the custody threshold, the piece offers a solution which would, it is argued, make the provision more effective and more theoretically sound.     

关于建立我国羁押候审制度的法律构想--从我国的超期羁押清理谈起

我国正在进行的超期羁押清理工作为我国现行羁押体制敲响了警钟。面对目前比较突出的无节制羁押、超期羁押以及羁押过程中人权虚化等现象 ,我国应当按照现代诉讼理念的要求 ,从控制犯罪和保障人权相结合的角度对审前羁押予以规制。制度的构建应当从羁押决定中的司法审查、羁押与逮捕严格分离、保障被羁押者的权利几个基本方面着手 ,具体通过羁押决定、羁押理由、羁押期限以及羁押复查制度来完成     

论鉴定留置的若干法律问题

鉴定留置指为鉴定被告心神或者身体状态，而将被告送入医院或者其他适当处所之处分。鉴定留置的存在是与法医学的发展休戚相关。从某种意义上讲，现代去医学发展的不成熟是鉴定留置制度存活的土壤。鉴定留置应定性为一种依附性行为。即依附于强制鉴定，其本身属于调查程序。而非强制处分。鉴定留置属于强制鉴定延伸的自然结果．而强制鉴定将在一定程度上限制被告人的行动自由。应当接受司法审查。强制鉴定作为一种独立的强制措施．对自由的侵犯程度不可与羁押同日而语，甚至其结果可能减轻或者免除被告人的刑事责任。因此在司去审查控制下的鉴定留置期间不应当计入羁押期间。     

余罪自首成立要件解析

成立余罪自首的主体为被采取强制措施的犯罪嫌疑人、被告人和正在服刑的罪犯。认定余罪自首的重点不在于犯罪人是否被剥夺了人身自由 ,而在于交代的是否是“余罪”。余罪自首成立的客观要件为“如实供述司法机关还未掌握的本人其他罪行” ,无论该罪行与司法机关已掌握的或判决确定的罪行属同种还是异种 ,只要其可以单独构成犯罪 ,就应认定为自首。     

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIONS: APPLICATIONS TO CUSTODY AND PARENTING TIME CASES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION IN HENNEPIN COUNTY,MINNESOTA

A program to apply Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE), a confidential, settlement‐oriented and accelerated alternative dispute resolution technique, to child custody and parenting time cases has been cooperatively developed by Hennepin county Family Court Services and the Minnesota Fourth Judicial District Family Court. Parties are referred by the court to a male/female team of experienced neutral evaluators for early feedback on the probable outcome of a full evaluation and an opportunity to negotiate a settlement. It has proven to be a highly successful program in its first 2 years, with the majority of cases reaching an early settlement. The ENE program reduces the stress and expense of custody disputes for clients, expedites judicial case management, maximizes Family Court Services staff efficiency, and focuses subsequent evaluations on critical issues.     

PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON COURT-CONNECTED CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION

This article presents the initial findings of a research project in five judicial settings where there is the provision of child custody mediation within the court. A sample of judges, members of the Bar, and court mediators completed the Professional Study Questionnaire, which examined opinions regarding the efficacy of child custody mediation and requested suggestions for judicial policy and procedure in cases of custody conflicts.     

Performance-based evaluation,state compensation and judicial ecology: dynamics of China’s detention review practice

Through participatory observation and in-depth interviews with thirty-four practitioners, this article pierces the veil of the dynamics of China’s pretrial detention system by looking into various socio-legal factors which may affect law enforcement in China. When the prosecutors make their decisions on detention in practice, a variety of factors such as state compensation, performance-based evaluation as well as judicial ecology such as public opinion, power struggle, and judicial coordination all play a role. The dynamics of China’s detention system, through governing the prosecutors’ daily operations and the procuratorate’s routine policy-making, often distort the pretrial detention system that is mainly regulated by the Criminal Procedure Law and in practice, result in a high rate of custody. The dynamics also suggest a non-autonomous criminal justice system in China, meaning that extra-legal factors usually influence, complicate, and sometimes even re-direct China’s development of the rule of law.     

Bias in the Family: Race,Ethnicity, and Culture in Custody Disputes

This essay examines the role of racial, ethnic, and cultural bias in custody cases. It analyzes cases where the court explicitly considered the parents’ racial, ethnic, or cultural background and cases where the court did not acknowledge these factors but where it is clear from the court's opinion that biases influenced its decision. It then briefly describes the literature on implicit bias to demonstrate how biases may influence the assessments of custody evaluators, lawyers, and judges despite best efforts to make fair and impartial decisions. Drawing on studies suggesting that individuals can reduce their implicit biases and their effects on decision making, the essay explores individual strategies and institutional reforms to address bias in custody disputes.     

RESPONDING TO THE CALL FOR CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATORS TO JUSTIFY THE REASON FOR THEIR PROFESSIONAL EXISTENCE: SOME THOUGHTS ON KELLY AND RAMSEY (2009)

Kelly and Ramsey (2009 ) propose that it is time to examine the costs and benefits courts and participants derive from child custody evaluations. A structure for a research program was suggested. This article endorses this call for such an examination on the system that provides for forensic mental health evaluations for custody disputes. There is a need to examine the costs and benefits of various types of approaches that are emerging, including the comprehensive evaluation and brief, focused evaluations. This article suggests that there is a need for forensic quality control of the work product that is produced by evaluators. Courts are cognizant of the need to encourage settlement between parties, but they also need to be accurate in making judicial determinations that will be in the best interests of children. Quality evaluations are a cornerstone in working toward this goal. Kelly and Ramsey are mindful of the need for evaluations to facilitate settlement, but also to get it right for the court on accurate predictions about children's developmental outcomes.     

POSTDECREE LITIGATION Is Joint Custody to Blame?

The Joint Custody Symposium Project examined almost 600 court files in five judicial districts to investigate the common perception that joint custody contributes significantly to relitigation rates. Data indicated that joint custody as a factor accounted for only 10.8% of court returns. Financial concerns accounted for the majority of actions. Disputes over child custody appeared to be related to finances as well. Unfortunately, returns to court do not necessarily resolve the financial needs of divorced parents. The findings suggest that children may be used as pawns in court battles over money that are disguised as parenting concerns, as evidenced by the close relationship found between visitation or custody disputes and child support modification filings.     

High Conflict Divorce,Violence, and Abuse: Implications for Custody and Visitation Decisions

Today, judges are faced with the daunting task of determining the best interests of the child and making appropriate custody awards to that end. The best interests of children becomes a critical question when domestic violence is involved; yet, determining what constitutes domestic violence is often debated. Research is often divided on what constitutes domestic violence. One body of research focuses on conflict, another focuses on domestic violence. What the first group identifies as intense emotional distress and disagreement, the other identifies as abuse. Judges making custody determinations in such cases are faced with the difficult challenge of distinguishing between a divorce with “high conflict” and a domestic violence case with ongoing abuse. This article will summarize the legal, philosophical, and historical understandings of the “high conflict” family and its potential impact on children. It will also provide practical judicial guidelines for making the important distinction between high conflict and domestic violence and subsequently crafting appropriate and safe child custody awards.     

Family Law and Social Change: Judicial Views of Joint Custody, 1998–2011

Rapid changes in family life over the last forty years have led to substantial alterations in family law policy; specifically, most states now endorse joint custody arrangements for divorcing families. However, we know little about how lower court judges have embraced or resisted this change. We conducted in‐depth interviews with judges in twenty‐five Indiana jurisdictions in 1998 and 2011. Our findings suggest that judges' views of joint custody dramatically changed. Judges in Wave II indicated a strong preference for joint custody—a theme that was relatively absent in Wave I. The observed change in judicial preferences did not seem to be related to judicial replacement, gender, age, or political party affiliation. Although our conclusions are exploratory, we speculate that shifts in judicial views may be related to changing public mores of parenthood and, relatedly, Indiana's adoption of Parenting Time Guidelines in 2001.     

隐性超期羁押的表现形式、成因及遏制对策

隐性超期羁押在司法实践中客观存在,其表现为＂形式合法而实质非法＂,出现该现象与司法人员执法观念偏差、现行法律制度不完善、机制不健全、司法资源匮乏、分配不合理有一定联系。只有建立科学执法理念、完善法律制度、健全机制、合理配置司法资源,才能从防范机制上遏制隐性超期羁押。     

专业法律知识的媒体供给与社会正义的维护——基于昆山案中舆论、司法、媒体互动的考察

维护社会正义是舆论、媒体与司法实践的共同目标。从系统论看,三者之间的良性互动有助于社会正义的实现。司法案件舆论引导是三者互动的一种常见状态。在司法案件舆论引导中,供给专业法律知识能够促进三者的良性互动。本文以极具代表性的昆山案为例展开案例研究,发现新闻媒体通过法学专家向公众供给专业法律知识、司法机关自媒体向公众供给专业法律知识,能够促进舆论与司法的良性互动,实现司法案件舆论引导效果。社会正义的维护并非仅靠法治实现,司法与舆论、媒体的互动能够更好地落实法治的正义精神。     

关于超期羁押问题的理性检视

超期羁押作为当前困扰我国司法实践的一大顽症,已经引起社会各界最广泛的关注,学术界也进行了深入的研讨。对于当前我国的超期羁押问题,应首先对其社会危害性进行系统的分析,同时还应对当前我国超期羁押的产生根源展开探讨,进而对构建超期羁押纠防机制提出合理化建议,以期有效地遏制超期羁押。     

法理视野中的刑事诉讼效率和期间:及时性原则研究

公正和效率是现代司法的两大价值目标。司法效率的实现有赖于刑事诉讼法对诉讼期间的科学规范和司法实践对法定期间的严格遵守。为此 ,及时性原则已成为各国指导诉讼效率和期间的基本准则 ,它要求控制诉讼时间、提升诉讼节奏、简化诉讼程序。我国的刑事诉讼在诸多方面贯彻了及时性原则的精神 ,但也存在着检察院单方面决定延长羁押期限、对集中审理缺乏规定、简易审判程序类型单一和功能受限等问题 ,有待完善。     

论刑事诉讼的“中立”理念──兼谈刑事诉讼制度的改革

“中立”是司法公正的内在要求和体现，它贯穿于诸多诉讼原则和制度之中。但是，人们对其理解过于偏狭，而我国现有诉讼制度对“中立＂的保障或体现也有些不足，其直接后果就是阻碍了实体公正与程序公正的实现。从中立性的理念出发，在制度上完善或保障法官中立、检察机关在审前程序中保持中立、鉴定机构中立、看守所在侦查机关与被羁押人之间保持中立，是诉讼改革的当务之急。     

ASSESSING CREDIBILITY IN ALLEGATIONS OF MARITAL VIOLENCE IN THE HIGHCONFLICT CHILD CUSTODY CASE

Forensic psychology has not systematically examined the problem of evaluating the credibility of allegations of marital violence within the context of a child custody case. The importance of this issue stems from the negative effect of family violence on children, the implications for parenting effectiveness, and consideration of the feasibility of joint custody. When marital violence has not been previously disclosed or objectively documented by prosecution, there is a need to examine the credibility of the allegations because of the strategic incentive for both sides to distort historical events. A six-factor model is presented to assist the child custody evaluator and judicial decision maker in this task. A risk assessment approach to marital violence in the custody evaluation context is presented. The need to examine the empirical basis of marital violence allegations in custody litigation should not discourage victims from raising the issue and does not diminish the seriousness of family maltreatment as a social problem.     

FAMILY DEFINITIONS AND CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN CUSTODY DECISION MAKING: THE IMPORTANCE OF A CHANGING LITIGANT CONTEXT

Recent scholarship has advocated two distinct approaches to promoting the preservation of children's attachment relationships during custody disputes between their biological and nonbiological parents. Some scholars argue that legal recognition of expansive definitions of the family is the key to protecting children's attachments, while others argue that such protection is contingent upon legal recognition of children's rights. This research examines the efficacy of these competing arguments through an analysis of 75 cases decided in 21 states and the District of Columbia between 2004 and 2005. Findings suggest that judicial attention to definitions of the family is generally confined to cases involving specific types of litigants; namely, former homosexual partners, couples who utilized fertility technologies, former stepparents, and presumptive fathers. In these instances, attention to broad conceptions of the family is associated with the maintenance of children's attachment relationships. Beyond this particular context, however, judges focus almost exclusively on balancing children's interests and rights against those of their biological parents. These findings suggest that both children's rights and family definitions influence judicial decisions, but their impact is context specific. For those scholars advocating legal change, this is an important insight because it shifts the debate from an “either/or” focus to one that recognizes the importance of the litigant context in custody decision making.